Polovchak Celebrates Birthday, Citizenship

October 9, 1985|United Press International

WASHINGTON — Walter Polovchak, who ran away from his Russian parents to remain in the United States, became a U.S. citizen Tuesday in a ceremony on Capitol Hill that doubled as his 18th birthday party.

``A lot of people take their freedom for granted but I don`t,`` Polovchak told cheering celebrants before taking the citizenship oath in the Dirksen Senate office building. ``God Bless America.`` The crowd responded by singing the same words to the Chicago youth who said in a brief speech that during his five-year quest to become an American he was afraid he would end up in a prison if he were sent back to the Soviet Union.

``The last five years have been pretty tough, but I`m glad I did it and I`d do it again,`` Polovchak said before cutting into a birthday cake with red, white and blue icing that proclaimed, ``Happy birthday, Walter. Welcome to freedom.``

Polovchak made headlines in 1980, when as a 12-year-old he refused to return to the Soviet Union with his parents who went back to their homeland from Chicago. He moved in with his sister on Chicago`s Northwest Side, enrolled in public school and later got a part-time job.